Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Alabama Crimson Tide Box Score on Mar 12, 2021

Jahvon Quinerly scored 14 points as Alabama flexed its depth on Friday afternoon during an 85-48 victory over Mississippi State in a Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinal game in Nashville.

Quinerly led a solid performance by the Crimson Tide's reserves, who totaled 47 points -- almost equaling Mississippi State's overall output. Juwan Gary made all four of his shots and finished with 11 points and Keon Ellis had six points and seven rebounds.

Sixth-ranked and top-seeded Alabama (22-6) advanced to Saturday's semifinal against fourth-seeded Tennessee and is within two victories of claiming its first SEC tournament title in 30 years and seventh overall. The Crimson Tide won their fourth in a row and seventh in their past eight games.

Alabama recorded its most lopsided victory of the season and its fourth win by 30 or more points.

The Crimson Tide swept the three meetings against Mississippi State for the season. The previous two, however, were decided by eight points or fewer.

Alabama broke Friday's game open in the first half with a 21-1 run over a seven-plus minute span during which it shot 8-for-23 from 3-point range. Alabama led by as many as 37 in the game and its 47-19 halftime lead was the largest in an SEC tournament game in 40 years.

The Crimson Tide shot 48.5 percent overall and made 13-of-36 attempts from 3-point range while committing only nine turnovers.

Iverson Molinar led ninth-seeded Mississippi State (15-14) with 18 points on 7-for-18 shooting and Tolu Smith totaled 13 points and six rebounds. But the Bulldogs were held to 29.0 percent shooting (18 of 62) and made only one of their 19 three-point attempts.

Jaden Shackelford totaled 13 points and went 3-for-6 from 3-point range for Alabama.

Alabama freshman guard Joshua Primo injured his knee with 12:35 left in the second half when Molinar landed on his left leg. Primo, who finished with eight points and four rebounds, had to be helped to the locker room.

--Field Level Media